Page 67 of The Time of My Afterlife

‘Rodney has been on my mind all day. I don’t know what to do about him. It’s so upsetting to hear he’s not the man I once knew all those years ago.’

I need to put her mind at ease. ‘Clark and I are going to Pixie Cove tomorrow,’ I say. ‘We will speak to him.’

She stares at me. ‘Really?’

I nod. ‘We’ll see what we can find out.’

Her face softens. ‘Thank you. Another thing on my mind is Mary’s book.’ She looks to me. ‘Did you know my dear friend, Mary, self-published a novel?’

I smile. ‘Clark has told me, Pearl, and what an achievement that was for Mary. Writing a book is not easy.’

Pearl nods. ‘I haven’t even read it, so I can’t tell you what it’s about. Mary was always very guarded about her past life, and even though she was my friend, I always got the sense she was hiding something.’ She looks up at Clark. ‘You’ve read it – haven’t you?’

He makes a pained expression. ‘Still halfway through.’

‘And what do you think?’ she asks.

‘It’s quite graphic – the murders, I mean.’

Pearl’s eyes widen. ‘Murders?’

Clark nods. ‘Not the sort of book I’d imagined Mary to write.’

Peal turns to me. ‘She was adamant on the last day I saw her alive that she wanted as many people as possible to read her book.’

‘Maybe she wanted to fulfil a dream of becoming an author?’

Pearl shakes her head. ‘Mary had other plans for that book.’

‘I’m going to borrow Clark’s copy once he’s finished it tonight,’ I say, glancing at him.

He makes a face.

Pearl smiles. ‘You met Mary, didn’t you, Florence?’

I nod. ‘You both used to come to my café every week. Mary always wore beautiful cardigans with fancy buttons and floral dresses with deep pockets. Always very polite. She gave me a sweet older lady vibe.’

Pearl smiles. ‘My mother always used to say that deep pockets contained dark secrets.’

I picture Mary in my mind. ‘I always found her hair fascinating; it was grey with a lilac tint.’

‘Yes,’ says Pearl. ‘I don’t know why she dyed her hair that odd colour. That was Mary. She didn’t care what others thought. Look, she was my friend, and her last wish was for as many people as possible to read her book. I need to make that happen.’

‘Pearl, don’t worry. I review books in my spare time. I’ll see what I can do.’

Ruth’s face appears in my mind. I could also ask her whether she would read Mary’s book and possibly write a review. That would get eyes on the book.

Pearl clasps her hands together and beams at me. ‘Clark has told me about all your wonderful book pictures.’

Clark clears his throat. ‘Let’s go, Florence, we have a lot to do.’

I blink several times at Pearl. ‘Book pictures?’

Pearl nods. ‘He’s even shown me your Instagram site on a few occasions.’

I look at Clark, who is casting Pearl one of his helpless expressions. I didn’t realise he knew about my Instagram.

‘Good luck tomorrow with Rodney,’ Pearl says, flicking my attention away from Clark and back to her situation.